


The Reichenbach Curtain Falls

by BlueFloyd



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Westworld (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Westworld Fusion, F/F, Gen, Lesbians Everywhere, Westworl'd Victorian England, genderswapped!Holmes, genderswapped!Moriarty, genderswapped!Watson, genderswapped!every male character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 21:45:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14819450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueFloyd/pseuds/BlueFloyd
Summary: Charlotte Holmes meets with her greatest foe and makes a startling discovery about her whole universe.





	The Reichenbach Curtain Falls

« Have you solved it, Charlotte? »

« Solved what? »

The sound the Reichenbach Falls made around them was deafening. Charlotte almost had to scream so that the woman in black could hear her.

« The riddle I presented you! The riddle I keep presenting you time after time! »

« What are you talking about? This is the first time we meet! »

The detective’s eyes were scanning the surrounding, looking for a way to turn the situation to her advantage. The stone was soaking wet all around the two women, making every move a gamble.

« Focus on the riddle! Have you solved it? »

In the woman’s hand, the pistol was steady, aimed directly at Charlotte. “Missy”, has she has presented herself, was obviously familiar with weapons. There was no way Charlotte could reach her and disarm her without getting shot.

« What happens when an irresistible force meets an unmovable object. That’s not really a riddle. To posit an object as unmovable or a force as irresistible is nonsensical. The question can only be answered with an empirical framework. Apply the force to the object, and find out which one was mislabeled. »

Missy sighed.

« You disappoint me, Charlotte »

Now. The hand holding the pistol had lowered slightly. Charlotte jumped, head first, directly in the direction of her opponent. The two women entangled fell from the promontory and into the freezing water of the Reichenbach. Charlotte last thought was for Penelope.

 

* * *

 

 « Have you solved it, Charlotte? »

« Solved what? » An echo. Or a déjà-vu?

The sound the Reichenbach Falls made around them was deafening. Charlotte almost had to scream so that the woman in black could hear her.

« The riddle Charlotte! The riddle I keep presenting you! »

«This is the first time we meet, what are you talking about? » But was it? There was this feeling, at the back of her head, the same as when her mind had solved a crime, but is wasn’t articulated yet, just the sensation that there was only a way the elements presented could make sense. She had to – how did Penelope put it? Let the bubbles rise to the surface.

« Have you solved the riddle, Charlotte? »

The pistol was steady in the woman’s hand, aimed directly at Charlotte. “Missy”, has she has presented herself, was obviously familiar with weapons. There was no possibility for Charlotte to reach and disarm her without getting shot. She had to stall.

« What happens when an irresistible force meets an unmovable object. That’s an old philosophy problem. But its apparent paradox lies in the presentation. To posit an object as unmovable or a force as irresistible is nonsensical. The question can only be answered with an empirical framework. Apply the force to the object, and find out which one was mislabeled. »

Missy sighed.

« You’re still not there, Charlotte »

Now. The hand holding the pistol had lowered slightly. Charlotte jumped, head first, directly in the direction of her opponent, but Missy had anticipated her attack. The bullet felt like ice in Charlotte’s stomach. She fell to the ground, then down in the water. Her last thought was for Penelope.

 

* * *

 

 « Have you solved it, Charlotte? »

« Solved what? » No, wait. She knew the answer to this question.

The sound made Reichenbach Falls around them was deafening.

« The riddle I presented you! »

She knew this would be the woman answer. But how did she knew? Contextually it was easy to guess that the woman spoke of the paradox she had told Charlotte earlier in the night. But she knew the formulation, the intonation, the exasperation in the woman’s voice. How? Charlotte was familiar with déjà-vu. This was akin, but different.

The pistol was steady in the woman’s hand, aimed directly at Charlotte. She had to stall. Her priority was to find a way to disarm the woman or to get out of her line of fire. And yet, she found herself drawn to the intellectual puzzle of the riddle. She knew the literal answer to the paradox. Empiricism. But there was more to the question. She could feel it. She had to let the bubbles rise. The fact that she felt like it wasn’t the first time she heard the riddle was a key element. What was irresistible? And unmovable? Was it in relation with one of her past cases? Had she met the phrase there? Had it been used by Penelope in one of her novelizations of their adventures? Something she heard during her childhood at Musgrave Park? Her mind usually so efficient was suddenly unable to pinpoint a event.

A gush of wind stronger than the others made her stumble. Her foot ripped on the rain-soaked stone. Missy watched her fall to her death without a move. Her last thought was for Penelope.

 

* * *

 

« Have you solved it, Charlotte? »

« Solved what? » The words had came out of her mouth by reflex. But suddenly she knew.

« The riddle that you presented me. Unmovable object and irresistible force getting in contact. The riddle that you presented me time and time again, even though it is the first time we meet. Am I supposed to be the irresistible force? I’m flattered. And this closed loop universe is the unmovable object. I use to say that to solve a problem, you have to remove the impossible, and the remaining improbabilities will be the correct answer. But some improbabilities are so big they look an awful lot like impossibilities. But upon closer inspection… All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again. So the rules governing this universe that I thought unmovable are not. Time is not linear and we go through these motions again and again. Where are we? Is this hell? »

« Close enough. Welcome to VictorianWorld, Charlotte »


End file.
